Amaranth
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: To a 'supposed' insane Dark Lord, what is ultimately more important? World domination and immortality or the family he has secretly always wanted? Is it possible to have both? Sane!Voldemort, Darkish!Harry, LV/HP Father/Son, HP/LL, very AU, non-canon compliant, title subject to change, T for safety Ch. 2 Posted
1. Salvation 1: Dreams

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Harry Potter, I never have and I never will and I am only saying this once so I will not repeat it in later chapters._

**. . .**

**Part One: Salvation**

**. . .**

**1**

**Dreams**

Privet Drive; an ordinary and normal place to live with house that looked identical to each other with only the number and the Halloween decorations being different and yet it was an eyesore to Tom Riddle, known to everyone else except a select few as Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord didn't know exactly what drew him to Privet Drive exactly nine years after his defeat, other than the news from his spy that the bloody Boy-Who-Lived—the boy who had somehow caused the Killing Curse to rebound and thus left Tom without a body for three years—lived there.

Tom knew that the boy was likely going to be protected but he had the advantage of being able to walk down Privet Drive, so long as he avoided the house in which the boy lived, because no one knew he was back yet, nor did they know exactly what he looked like even if they did know he was back. To anyone else, it looked like he was just taking a stroll down Privet Drive, and the fact that he looked _nothing_ like he did when he was defeated helped matters tremendously.

It was primarily thanks to the horcrux in the journal Tom had given to his loyal follow Lucius Malfoy that he had a body as it was, and it was because he had used the _first_ horcrux he made—which contained _half_ his soul—that he wasn't quite as insane as he was when he attacked the Potters nine years earlier. And that sanity allowed him to see that he shouldn't have acted as rashly as he had in listening to and believing a prophecy when he only knew half of it; it was such a…a _Gryffindor_ thing to do.

Tom curled his lip at the thought of his rashness that resulted in him losing his body before he paused as he gazed briefly at Number 4 Privet Drive, where the Boy-Who-Lived lived with his muggle relatives, before continuing to walk. Why the bloody old coot Albus Dumbledore would leave the Boy-Who-Lived with _muggles_, Tom would never know.

_He obviously didn't learn his lesson,_ Tom thought with a sneer as he entered the park that lay a few blocks from the Boy-Who-Lived's home. The boy was only ten years old and, while Tom could easily find a way to kill the boy without Dumbledore knowing, the fact that he wasn't as insane as many people would think allowed him to realize that he could actually _benefit_ from the Boy-Who-Lived remaining alive.

After all, what better vengeance was there than to turn the prophecy in his favor by converting the boy to his side?

Tom had to wonder how he hadn't thought of that before. And he also wondered why the hell he had paid attention to and acted upon _half_ a prophecy. He decided he would blame it on the fact that his soul had been shattered far too many times that he really only had a sliver of his soul left when he was defeated. After all, he has never acted so rashly before; he was the Heir of Slytherin for crying out loud, rashness was _not_ a Slytherin trait and Tom was the epitome of all things Slytherin.

As he was walking around the park, looking casual as if he was just taking a stroll—he had reluctantly put on muggle attire so as to not stand out while he was checking on the protections around the Boy-Who-Lived's place—he spotted a rather small boy sitting on a swing nearby. The boy wasn't even playing; he was just sitting there looking around and appearing rather skittish as if afraid someone would jump him.

The boy looked to be eight or nine years old and was dressed in clothing that was obviously too big for him with rips and stains in various places. His black hair was messy, like a bird's nest and round glasses rested on his nose in front of shockingly bright green eyes. Tom stopped the instant he caught sight of those eyes; the mudblood mother of the Boy-Who-Lived had those same colored eyes and yet…so had someone else.

Tom viciously shoved the memory to the back of his mind. As he had used the horcrux he created when he was sixteen to create his new body, he should have only had the memories up until the piece of his soul when he was sixteen was sealed in the journal. However, because he had merged the soul piece in the journal with the rest of his soul from after he was defeated he was able to retain all of his memories.

Including ones of _her_.

Tom ground his teeth together refusing to go down memory lane. The past was the past and the old coot Dumbledore would pay dearly for taking everything from him one year before he had been defeated.

He should be getting back though and was about to leave when he spotted an overweight muggle with brown hair and an ugly sneer on his face—one reminiscent of the sneers that Tom had received during his stay at the orphanage before he had used his magic to make sure no one bothered him again—walked toward the small boy. The overweight boy looked like he was ten years old and he easily dwarfed the smaller boy.

"Ohh, look it's the little freak," the boy said, which caused the other boys who had followed him to laugh. The bigger boy then proceeded to shove the small boy who had stood up and bravely faced the bigger boy to the ground. The boy landed with a _thud_ and Tom ground his teeth together as he watched the boy and his friends gang up on the smaller boy; it was just a muggle but Tom still hated bullies.

The small boy managed to get away from the other boys though it was obvious he was hurt as he was limping. He didn't even try to defend himself though; he obviously didn't think he stood a chance and thought running was the better option, an act of self-preservation when one thought about it.

"Get back here, freak," the overweight boy shouted and ran after the smaller boy. Tom watched with detached interest as the small boy dashed around him as if he hadn't seen him before he stepped aside to avoid getting run over by the overweight muggle and his friends. Something told him to keep watching though and Tom was glad that he did when the smaller boy suddenly vanished with a _crack_ to reappear in the middle of the park, looking lost and confused.

If Tom hadn't been looking right at the boy when it happened, he would never have believed it. The boy had just _apparated_ and did so _unconsciously_ in what was obviously a burst of accidental magic.

The boy was a wizard.

_As far as I know, there are no Wizarding children in this neighborhood, except…was it possible?_ Tom thought observing the boy who was still looking around in shock and confusion and was that fear?

"Boy!" A shout sounded and the boy paled as an overweight man with a thick mustache stalked over to join him with a skinny, horse-faced woman walking over to the overweight kid from earlier.

"What happened, Duddykins?" the horse-faced woman cooed.

Tom felt sick at that.

Briefly, he wondered why in the world he was staying when he should be heading back to Malfoy Manor.

"The freak just disappeared and reappeared there," the boy—Duddykins?—said pointing a shaking hand at the smaller boy

"What did I tell…? You are….! Just wait until we get home," the older man hissed angrily clearly trying to stop himself from striking the boy in a public park. When he grabbed the boy though, the yelp the boy let out suggested it wasn't exactly gentle.

_How dare you treat a Wizarding child like that, muggle?_ Tom thought furiously. And people wondered why he hated muggles so much, especially when they did something like this, calling a wizard a 'freak' and treating him so roughly. The man didn't even bother on checking on the boy's injuries and didn't even bother in hearing the boy's side of the story.

Tom didn't know what possessed him to follow the family as they left the park. They were _muggles_; he didn't want anything to do with _muggles_ but then perhaps it was because of the boy, the magical child who was handled so roughly just because of accidental magic, something that he couldn't control. And he was only trying to save himself when it happened.

Plus, for some reason, Tom felt as if he should _recognize_ that boy and he didn't understand why. The boy's eyes were so like _hers_ bright like the Killing Curse, and yet it was a common color and he looked nothing like _her_ aside from that.

_Why am I bothering with this kid? Sure he's being treated like I was when I was a kid but that's something for the Wizarding Child Services to take care of. Even if the kid's a mudblood, no magical child should be treated like that,_ Tom thought.

Contrary to popular belief, Tom didn't believe—anymore—that all muggleborns should die. Sure, at first when he first began his campaign to take over the British Wizarding World, he had wanted that, hence why he set the Basilisk on the muggleborns at Hogwarts in his fifth year. However, after meeting_ her_, he began to see the advantage of having muggleborns on his side and began to realize that if he ever wanted to control the British Wizarding World, he couldn't exactly kill off anyone with magic. _She_ had made him see that the magical community was small enough as it was and if he didn't accept muggleborns, he would be ruling over a community of the dead because, eventually, no more purebloods would be born.

_She_ had explained that the Wizarding World needed the new magical blood of muggleborns if they wanted to stand a chance at surviving. _She_ agreed that inviting muggleborns into the Wizarding World threatened to reveal the magical community to the muggles but _she_ also said that if they could find a way to keep muggles from finding out about magics existence and accept muggleborns into the community then it would prevent the magical community from dying out. Naturally, the muggleborns would be inferior to the purebloods and half-bloods of the community but at least they would be alive, which was the opposite of what Tom originally wanted to do with them.

_She was the only one who could argue with me and not get crucio'd_, Tom mused, an odd feeling of nostalgia going through him and he pushed it away.

He paused when he reached the edge of the street just in time to see the couple and the two children enter their house at Number 4 Privet Drive, the same home that was surrounded by blood wards that Tom could not get by; the same house in which the Boy-Who-Lived lived.

_Interesting. So this is the Savior of the Wizarding World? Ironic that he would be treated similar to how I was treated,_ Tom mused walking away before, once he was out of sight of both that home and the home of the squib across the street, he apparated away with a _crack_.

**. . .**

Harry Potter curled into a ball in the cupboard beneath the stairs that his uncle had tossed him in after beating him for doing something freaky at the park. It was worse than normal mostly because he had done something freaky in public and anyone could have seen; as far as Harry knew, the only one who saw anything was that strange guy at the park and he hadn't said anything.

There was something odd about the guy that Harry had run by while he was running from his cousin Dudley and his friends. That was primarily because the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead had burned when he passed by him and only faded once he was several feet away. Never before has Harry's scar burned, except that one time when he was four years old and had been working in the garden; it had been in the middle of June and had happened so suddenly that Harry had nearly attracted the attention of everyone in the neighborhood when he started screaming and crying.

He had ended up remaining in his cupboard after being hit several times because of that, even though he wasn't even sure if it had been his fault or not.

Sighing, Harry shifted until he was in a comfortable position, wincing whenever he moved his arm since he was sure it was broken or his leg, which was bruised badly from the beating Dudley and his friends had given him in the park. Harry had long ago stopped bothering on asking himself why no one ever stopped that whenever it happened. It didn't change anything, nothing he did changed anything.

He had tried going to one of his teachers before about his relatives. He tried to tell his teacher that his relatives treated him badly. The teacher had believed him, until she called his relatives in and then suddenly he was labeled as an attention-seeking liar and a delinquent who would say anything to get out of trouble. Ever since then, Harry gave up trying to tell anyone about how his relatives treated him; adults were all the same, they wouldn't believe him and he would be right back where he started, albeit with more injuries than before.

Harry didn't want to say that he hated his relatives, even though he supposed a part of him did, and he had always thought that he deserved everything his relatives did to him. He always assumed it was because he was a freak who caused the deaths of his parents and who didn't deserve to live.

When he was younger, Harry never considered what his relatives did to him as abuse and the only reason he told his teacher was because he saw how other adults treated their children and other children and it was nothing like how his relatives treated him. He didn't even know what classified as abuse until he learned about that one student who was in secondary school who had been killed by her relatives.

The story was on the news the day after Harry's birthday. Harry wasn't supposed to be listening to the news but he did and he heard that the girl had been beaten and starved much like Harry had been. The report had said that it was "the worst case of child abuse in London in decades" and the girl's parents had been arrested and sent to jail for murder.

That was when Harry began to fear that what happened to that girl would end up happening to him, so he did everything he could to try and stay on his relatives' good side. However, it was because of that story—at least that was what Harry thought—that his relatives started treating him a little bit better; they fed him more often, though it was still just table scraps, and his uncle didn't beat him as often, only if he did something freaky like today. It was better than the last nine years had been and Harry was going to take what he could get, since he was likely never going to leave this house. Adults couldn't be trusted.

He shifted until he was lying down and closed his eyes, though it was still a while before he finally fell asleep.

_Harry wasn't used to dreaming about anything. Usually, he was so exhausted from all of his chores that he just fell asleep and woke up in the morning without having dreamed a single thing, or perhaps without remembering anything that he had dreamed. Today was different because he suddenly found himself sitting cross-legged in grass with a river winding its way around him. The sky was overcast promising rain and a cool breeze drifted around Harry, gently carding through his hair almost as if it was a hand._

_ "Harry," a soft voice whispered and Harry turned his head to find, to his surprise, two women kneeling beside him. The first was a tall, slender woman with bright red hair and bright green eyes while the second was shorter and blonde but with the same bright green eyes as the taller woman._

_ Harry blinked confused. "Who are you?" he asked._

_ The women smiled. "Harry, I am Lily," the red haired woman whispered._

_ "And I am Acelina," the blonde woman said. "We came here to speak to you because there is something you need to know, something that is very important."_

_ "Harry, Acelina and I are dead," Lily said softly. "Today is Halloween as you well know and today is when the barrier between the living and the dead is at its weakest, which is why we were able to come speak to you."_

_ "But who are you?" Harry asked confused._

_ "Harry, did Petunia ever tell you about your 'parents'?" Lily asked._

_ Harry, confused by the air quotes Lily had used, shook his head. "No, they just said they were freaks who got killed in a car accident," he said._

_ "She did _what?!_" Lily exclaimed._

_ Acelina shook her head. "Bloody muggles," she growled._

_ "She lied to you, Harry," Lily said. "You see, it's a long and complicated story but Petunia isn't really your aunt. You have no blood relation to her at all actually."_

_ "I don't?"_

_ "No. You see, when you were born, a man decided that he didn't want you to stay with your real family," Acelina explained gently. "I am your real mother, Harry, and Lily here is your adopted mother. She didn't know that you had been taken from your family when you were given to her and her husband."_

_ "I thought you were abandoned and an orphan and I just wanted to give you a home," Lily said softly. "The man insisted that my husband and I blood-adopt you, which is the only reason why—on paper—Petunia is your aunt, though she isn't. When I died…"_

_ "That green light?" Harry asked confused._

_ Lily's eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "You remember?" she whispered._

_ "I just remember a green light and someone screaming and then a lot of pain," Harry admitted._

_ "Yes, that is what happened," Lily said. "But anyway, when I died, I came here and met with Acelina who told me all about what happened. I was horrified to learn that I had, unknowingly, agreed to kidnap a child from his real family. I couldn't believe that man because I trusted him. My husband was even shocked and horrified, though I think he was more horrified by who your father is. Am I going too fast for you?"_

_ Harry blinked. "A…A little," he admitted. "I don't understand. Why was I taken from my real family? And who's my real father? And how do I know this is all real?"_

_ "We are dead, Harry, and the dead know everything," Acelina said._

_ "We were shown possible futures when we first came here," Lily said, "and many of them I do not wish to see come to pass and yet there is one, however shocking it may be, that I want to occur, even if it means supporting a side I never thought I would support."_

_ "I don't…"_

_ "I think we may be forgetting that he is only ten, Lily," Acelina said. "I don't think he'll understand a lot of this. He may be the son of a genius but his upbringing likely makes it hard for him to show whether he is a genius like his father or not."_

_ Lily sighed. "I know," she said. She glanced at Harry. "Here's one thing you can do, Harry. Acelina will tell you her full name and the name of your father. If you can figure out a way to get to Diagon Alley and to Gringotts then you can confirm who your real parents are. Would that prove that everything we told you is true?"_

_ "I…I guess so but what's this Diagon Alley? And how do I get there?"_

_ "It's a Wizarding place in London where most students get their supplies for school," Acelina said._

_ Harry just looked at them before he looked down. "Magic's not real," he said softly._

_ "Who told you that?!" Acelina exclaimed furiously. "How dare anyone tell a wizard magic isn't real?! The nerve of those stupid muggles!"_

_ Harry shrank away from his 'supposed' mother's anger and Lily placed a hand on his shoulder before looking at Acelina. "Lina, calm down. You're scaring him," she said gently._

_ Acelina took a deep breath before calming down and closing her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just shocking that someone would tell you that magic doesn't exist. It does exist, Harry. Haven't you ever done anything that you couldn't explain at all?" she asked._

_ Harry blinked. "Well, I was running and ended up on the roof of my school one time. Oh, and I turned my teacher's hair blue once," he said._

_ "Apparation at your age? I do believe you will become a powerful wizard, probably as powerful as your father," Acelina said eyes wide._

_ "That was all accidental magic, Harry," Lily said. "All wizards your age have occasional bursts of accidental magic."_

_ Harry was silent for a long moment; this was a lot to take in. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about this and Acelina frowned before stretching out a hand and gently tracing her finger over Harry's scar._

_ "I think your father will want to take a look at this," she murmured before she looked at Harry. "But that can be done later."_

_ "Is my father's still alive?" Harry asked._

_ Acelina smiled. "Yes, he is. Actually, I believe you've already run into him even though you didn't know who he was at the time."_

_ "Really?"_

_ "Really."_

_ "It's getting close to midnight. We need to go," Lily said softly. She gently hugged Harry before adding, "You may not have been my son but I do love you as if you were my own."_

_ "And I may have only known you for three months but I still love you very much, my baby prince," Acelina said softly. "If you ever get to Gringotts, look up either Acelina Selene Riddle nee Prince or Tom Marvolo Riddle; either way, you'll get the results you need to prove that we are your parents. Goodbye, my sweet baby prince. I love you and I hope that you find your father soon." She then hugged Harry gently before kissing him on the forehead and then releasing him._

_ Then she and Lily vanished and everything around Harry went black._

**. . .**

_ When Tom dreamed, he never thought he would find himself in a meadow and definitely not with a very familiar woman sitting cross-legged across from him; her beautiful blonde hair fell in ringlets over her shoulder and down her back and her bright Killing Curse green eyes gazed unblinkingly at him._

_ "What are you doing here?" Tom asked, narrowing his eyes._

_ Acelina Riddle nee Prince simply raised an eyebrow at him, an action that reminded Tom of her cousin Severus. "It's Halloween. You know as well as I do that the barrier between the living and the dead is weakest today," she said._

_ "But why are you here?" Tom growled._

_ "And here I would've thought you wouldn't mind seeing your wife after so long, considering you blocked out all my other attempts to speak to you after you regained your body," Acelina said coolly._

_ "You're dead."_

_ "Really? I hadn't noticed," Acelina drawled sarcastically and Tom gritted his teeth; his wife's sarcasm was annoying. He _barely_ tolerated Severus's sarcasm._

_ "Why are you here?" Tom asked after a few moments of silence._

_ "Now that was the question I was waiting for," Acelina said. "I'm here because, being dead, I know quite a bit like, for one, our son is alive."_

_ A brief flare of hope went through Tom but he crushed it as he scowled. "That's not possible. The body…"_

_ "…was a fake. Dumbledore transfigured something to _resemble_ our baby's body after he killed me but it wasn't him. He kidnapped our son and placed him with a Light family in the hope that the boy would be raised loyal to him and likely be used against you. You must understand though, Tom, that the family who took in our baby didn't know he was kidnapped; they thought he was abandoned and an orphan and wanted to give him a home. Dumbledore insisted that they blood-adopt him so that it would appear as if they were his real parents on paper but that's not true and they now know it."_

_ Tom narrowed his eyes but he couldn't exactly call Acelina out on lying; the dead couldn't lie and while Tom himself was immortal because of his horcruxes, he knew enough to know that much was true._

_ "What do you mean 'they now know it'?" he asked._

_ "They're dead too," Acelina said. "Tom, your son needs you. He was given to muggles and those muggles treated him horrendously. He was placed there by Dumbledore after his adopted parents were killed because Dumbledore wanted to keep him from you. If you don't believe me still then just go to Gringotts and you'll see that your son is alive. Though, because he was blood-adopted, he will have the name given to him by the Light family he was placed with but he will still have the name we gave him. I know you will be surprised by what you figure out but you know that goblins won't lie so long as they get paid and these kinds of tests cannot lie period."_

_ "I know this," Tom snapped._

_ Acelina smirked as she uncrossed her legs and walked over to join Tom. She knelt down before him and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you, Tom. Go and find your son and heir and, for the love of Merlin, please at least narrow down the number of horcruxes you have."_

_ Tom just smirked at his wife. "Do you honestly think I'll agree to that?" he asked._

_ "No but it never hurts to ask," Acelina said. She kissed him again before she stood up and faded away and everything went dark._

Tom blinked before opening his eyes and looking around, recognizing that he was in his private bedroom within Malfoy Manor. His main headquarters were at Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton but, occasionally, he would spend the night in Malfoy Manor because Lucius was one of his most loyal followers. Actually, out of all of his followers, Lucius and Severus were the ones he trusted the most; he really didn't care for some of others after he met and married Acelina, especially not Bellatrix since she had tried to curse Acelina during the wedding. So, frankly, Tom didn't care whether the Death Eaters in Azkaban got out or not.

However, spending time in Malfoy Manor meant that he was able to keep up to date with all the news that was coming through the Ministry.

Tom thought about his dream and wondered whether to believe it or not. He was leaning towards yes because he knew that the barrier between life and death was thin Halloween night so it really was likely that his wife would be able to speak to him. However, the fact that his son could be alive and had been placed with muggles after the family Dumbledore had placed him with was killed was something that was on the forefronts of his mind.

Tom may come off as a heartless bastard, especially since he threw around curses like someone would throw around candy and it wasn't as if he didn't have blood on his hands, he has killed before. He was nowhere near a saint but, when he was reborn, he decided that he would go about his 'take over Britain' plan with more Slytherin subtlety and thus was laying low and working from the shadows so that Dumbledore and the Light didn't know what hit them when he finally revealed himself and struck the final blow.

And yet only Tom's Inner Circle knew what he had been like when he married Acelina and when his baby boy was born; he wasn't a heartless bastard toward his wife and son and he would never lift a hand toward his son. Even with only half his soul—or only a small portion of his soul by the time his baby had been born—he did love his son and his wife; as much as someone with only a small portion of their soul in their body—or half his soul like right now—_could_ love anyone.

Getting to his feet, Tom showered and dressed before leaving his room and heading down the stairs into the kitchen. Lucius was already up and he looked up before inclining his head respectfully in greeting; it was only when they were in Death Eater meetings that Lucius bowed like everyone else.

"My Lord," Lucius greeted him.

"Lucius," Tom replied.

"Do you need anything, my lord?"

"Not today. I am heading to Gringotts. There is something I wish to confirm. If it is true then I may need your help later," Tom said.

"Understood, my lord."

After making sure to eat, Tom left Malfoy Manor and apparated to Diagon Alley. He really did enjoy the anonymity that came with having a body no one would recognize, not even Dumbledore, though his eyes were unique enough that he avoided eye-contact with anyone lest they inform Dumbledore or anyone on the Light's side.

One of the goblins looked up as he entered Gringotts and came to a stop in front of the desk and sneered at him. "Can I help you?" he said snidely.

"Yes, I wish to speak to Silverclaw," Tom said in a clipped impatient tone.

"Very well," the goblin said before sending off the message and, a few minutes later, the goblin for all of Tom's vaults walked forward.

"Mr. Riddle," Silverclaw greeted him calmly aware that no one was around to hear him since he knew Tom wished to remain hidden for now. "What can I do for you?"

"I wish to speak in private."

"Very well sir. This way." Silverclaw led the way past the tellers to one of the private rooms and walked inside. Tom entered the room, feeling the goblin's privacy charms take effect as soon as the door closed behind him. Silverclaw sat down behind the desk before looking at Tom calmly, waiting for him to begin.

"I wish to see my family tree," Tom said.

Silverclaw nodded before snapping his finger. "I will need a drop of your blood to confirm your identity and access the family tree as per procedure," he said.

Tom said nothing but simply used his wand to prick his finger and dropped the blood on the parchment. The blood sank in before the parchment glowed and then was replaced by a family tree showing only Tom's magical side; the Gaunt family, the Peverell family, all the way back to the Slytherin family.

Tom was only interested in the more recent area and he immediately scanned the family tree before he came to where his name was.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle m. Acelina Selene Riddle nee Prince_

_Alexander Kieran Riddle - Harry James Potter (Blood-adopted by James Charles Potter and Lily Rose Potter nee Evans)_

Tom froze upon seeing the name right beneath his and Acelina's; first was the name that Acelina had chosen for their son but next to it was the name given to him by the Light family who blood-adopted him and…

_Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, is Alex?_ Tom thought incredulously. The boy whom was supposedly prophesized to defeat him, the boy that Tom had made the decision to convert to the Dark to turn the prophecy in his favor, was actually _his son_.

And Dumbledore knew it all along.

Tom was angry, no he was beyond angry, he was downright furious. _How dare he? First he takes my wife from me and then he makes me believe my son is dead and gives my son to the very family that I would later target because of that damn prophecy…Merlin, I tried to kill my own son! _he thought angrily before taking a moment to calm himself when his magic started to react to his anger.

Silverclaw just let Tom calm down himself and said nothing.

"Has anyone else seen this?" Tom demanded gesturing to the family tree he was holding.

"Only Albus Dumbledore, Mr. Riddle," Silverclaw said calmly.

Tom ground his teeth. _Of course_, he thought. He handed the family tree back to Silverclaw who snapped his fingers, returning the family tree to Tom's main vault before he stood up.

"Is that all?" Silverclaw asked.

"I have only one thing to add. No one is to know that I was ever here." Tom knew that there was no point in threatening goblins but they already knew he wanted to keep a low profile and, because they got a share of his gold, they kept his secret.

"Very well sir."

Tom turned and left the private room after another goblin who led him out of the room, fuming inwardly and plotting various ways to kill the bloody old man who took his wife and son from him.

His anger faded and his mind immediately began turning cogs in his head as he began to plan and the more he thought about what he could do with this information, the more he realized how utterly _screwed_ Albus Dumbledore was. He didn't seem to realize that by placing Harry Potter with muggles, and muggles that _abused_ him at that, would be counterproductive, especially when Harry/Alex found out that his father was alive.

A devious smirk crossed Tom's lips._ Oh you will rue the day you ever crossed me, Albus Dumbledore,_ he thought.

**. . .**

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: okay, please don't be too harsh but this is my first Darkish!Harry fanfic ever mostly because I've read many of them and decided to see if I could write one myself**

**Darth: in this story, Voldemort/Tom **_**is**_** Harry's father and, yeah Blaze knows that Tom's son being kidnapped and placed with the Potters has been done before (so she doesn't own it) but she hoped she made it a bit more original in this chapter**

**Blaze: there will be allusions to abuse in this story, more than just neglect since I firmly believe neglect and emotional abuse leads to physical abuse and, in a way, is something Rowling may have glossed over in the books (in my opinion anyway) so this may or may not be canon, but that's why it's AU**

**Darth: also, Blaze will try to keep the characters in characters but she makes no promises that it will work so expect OOCness in some characters, especially Voldemort/Tom (hopefully he won't be **_**too**_** OOC).**

**Blaze: and there will be light Dumbledore, Molly, Ron, Ginny and Dursley bashing in this story, though it won't be too intense so you probably won't even notice it (primarily because I usually don't bash characters, except the Dursleys but I hate the Dursleys) hence why it's only **_**light,**_** except for, probably, the Dursleys**

**Darth: also, Blaze makes no promises that this will remain a dark fic since she has a tendency to turn dark fics into redemption fics (hopefully not in this case but we'll just have to wait and see)**

**Blaze: and this is also just a sample to see what people think about it and I may continue it, after I finish up the semester at my college. This chapter was actually written back in July but I just edited and decided what the heck? I'll just post it and see what people think about it. It will likely not be updated until the second or third week of December (same with my **_**Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**_** stories) but I just wanted to see if people would be willing to continue to read this story, based on this introduction**

**Darth: and, after that rather long-winded explanation, please review for they are much appreciated**


	2. Salvation 2: Of Snakes and Goblins

**Blaze: (stares at review count) nineteen reviews on one chapter? (faints)**

**Harry: uhh, should we wake her up?**

**Severus: unless you want to answer all nineteen reviews she got, I suggest you do so**

**Harry: (pours cold water on Blaze)**

**Blaze: (wakes up sputtering) hey!**

**Harry: sorry, didn't want to answer all nineteen reviews**

**Blaze: (pouts and then smiles) THANK YOU TO THE NINETEEN PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

**Review Replies**

**Guest: **Sorry about that but I was really busy with school work and then trying to come up with ideas for the next chapter. Thanks for the review though.

**notwritten: **Thank you! :-)

**thewolf74: ** That will happen next chapter, maybe. I really don't know when it will happen but it will happen soon. Thank you so much!

**Funnygurl143: **Thank you. I enjoy some dark!Harry stories, but it just depends and Harry's not completely dark in this story. I'm looking forward to when I include Luna too.

**Merlenyn: **Heehee, let's just say I cheated on that by having my fav character take care of matters for Harry as well as Lucius, as you will see in this chapter. Heeheehee, you'll see in this chapter about what Severus thinks I think I might've made him a bit, erm, OOC in his response but ah well. Here's the next chapter and I hope that you enjoy it!

**Guest (2): **Thank you for your review.

**MarieCP: **Thank you so much! I'm glad that you find it interesting.

**anyeshabaner: **Glad that you like it so much! Here's the update you wanted.

**feral-kuga: **Yup. It is definitely going to be interesting. Heeheehee. I have plans for what Tom decides to do with the idiots, I mean the Dursleys for what they did to Harry. I agree with all of this (what you said about Dumbles). Harry/Alex won't stay much longer with the Dursleys. He'll be joined with his father next chapter. Heeheehee, yeah, you are getting a bit ahead of yourself. I'm still working out the details of what will happen when Harry/Alex goes to Hogwarts so you'll just have to wait and see what happens. Thank you for you review and I'm glad that you like this story so much.

**lilyflower101: **déjà vu, heh. Thank you for your review.

**Lady Laran: **Thank you! Here's the update you wanted.

**Vkass Valyn (guest): **Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**daithi4377: **I make no promises that Tom will stay in character and his description is in this chapter. And you'll just have to see what happens next. As for the 'light' bashing, that is primarily because I find it hard to bash characters, even if I don't like them. Here's the new update you wanted.

**SoulMore: **yay! A fan! Thank you!

**Corala: **Next chapter. :-) Thank you for your review.

**graynavarre: **Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it so much. Here's the next chapter.

**KatzeIason69: **Thank you so much. Here is the next update.

**Wolf-mistress: **Here is the next update. Thanks for your review.

**Flying Chrissy: **My first reviewer for this story! Thank you for your review and I'm glad that you like it!

**Blaze: man, that took a while and, wow, I added an extra page to this story as a result**

**Harry: are you gonna do this every chapter?**

**Blaze: I don't know. Here is chapter 2 and I hope that you like it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

**2**

**Of Snakes and Goblins**

_How am I going to get to this Diagon Alley?_

That was the first question that came to Harry's mind when he woke up after talking with his adopted mother and his real mother. He was still a little hesitant about believing the people who spoke to him in his dreams, but he couldn't discount that they seemed to know why freaky things always seem to happen around him. Magic was pretty far-fetched in Harry's mind, mostly because he had been raised to believe that magic didn't exist.

_They were so sure about it though,_ he thought, shifting in the cupboard beneath the stairs as he waited for his aunt and uncle, who, apparently, weren't even related to him, to wake him up so that he could fix them breakfast.

He wished he could just ask them to take him to this Diagon Alley but it was doubtful that they would do that. More likely, Vernon—Harry couldn't exactly call him _uncle_ anymore, since he wasn't his uncle—would hit him and tell him that it didn't exist. Harry wanted to stay away from his uncle's fists for as long as possible.

The sound of someone moving on the steps sounded and Petunia's shrill voice sounded above. "Up! Get up! And get breakfast ready, boy!" She said angrily as the door to the cupboard unlocked.

Harry, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light, slowly made his way out of the room. His arm hurt but, for some reason, it had healed overnight. Harry guessed that it wasn't broken, even though it felt like it had been. Either that or magic could've done something. It was a thought anyway but Harry just didn't know. He still didn't exactly believe magic was real, despite his mother and adopted mother telling him it was.

Sighing, he got to his feet and made his way into the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast. He had just finished frying the bacon and was working on the eggs when Vernon and Dudley came into the kitchen.

"Boy, where's breakfast?" Vernon demanded.

"It's almost done, sir," Harry said quietly as he finished scrambling the eggs and began preparing the plates.

Vernon grunted but said nothing else.

Harry placed the plates in front of Vernon and Dudley before handing Petunia her own plate, as she only ate fruit and yogurt for breakfast. He then wandered over to the kitchen sink and began doing the dishes while he waited for them to finish eating. He wasn't allowed to eat with them after all.

After breakfast, Vernon went to work while Dudley plopped on the couch and started watching TV. Petunia glared at Harry. "Go and tend to the garden, boy," she said coolly before she walked over to the phone to call someone.

Harry finished washing the dishes and dried his hand. He made his way outside to the garden and knelt down beside. He began working with it, pulling out the weeds that had grown since he last tended to it and then turning on the hose to water it. He was so busy with the garden that he didn't notice the snake until it almost bit him.

Jerking his hand back quickly, Harry started at the small snake that was lying in the garden looking at him.

'_Watch were you put your hand, sssmall one,_' the snake hissed, lifting its head out of the flowers. Its voice sounded feminine.

Harry raised an eyebrow. '_I'm the sssmall one? You're sssmaller than me,_' he hissed back.

The snake hissed before sliding forward. '_A ssspeaker? It hasss been a long while sssince I've come acrossss a ssspeaker,_' she hissed.

'_Ssspeaker?_'

'_Sssomeone like you. Sssomone who can talk to sssnakesss,_' the snake hissed before she slithered across the ground and then, to Harry's surprise, touched her head to his hand. '_May I come with you, ssspeaker?_'

Harry gazed at the little snake before shaking his head. '_I'm sssorry but my guardiansss won't let you ssstay. They'll jussst kick you out,_' he hissed back softly.

'_I am ssssmall asss you sssaid. They will not know I am there,_' the little snake promised, tongue flickering out and Harry giggled as it ticked his skin.

"Boy!"

Harry looked up and the little snake immediately lowered herself into the garden to avoid being seen as Petunia walked out of the house to glare at him. "Yes, ma'am?" Harry asked.

"I'm going with Dudders and his friend to get a new game. Finish the garden by the time I get back or no supper for you. And when you're done, go to Miss. Figg's house. I will not have you alone in my house," Petunia said firmly.

"Yeah, like that'll be a change," Harry murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Petunia sniffed as a car pulled up to the house. She and Dudley, who grinned and kicked Harry to where he fell into the garden—and nearly squashed the little snake but she slithered out of the way—before whining to Petunia.

"Mum, look what the freak did to your garden," he said.

Petunia glared at Harry as he picked himself out of the garden. "I'll let Vernon deal with you when he gets back," she growled before she and a smirking Dudley made their way to the car that was parked in front of the house.

Harry sighed, not at all surprised by what happened before he set about trying to fix as much of the garden as he could. He doubted it would matter but at least it wouldn't look bad. Besides, it gave him something to do since he wasn't allowed to do a lot of stuff in the Dursleys home.

He just wished there was some way he could find a way to Diagon Alley.

_Why didn't my mother and my adopted mother tell me how to get to Diagon Alley?_ He wondered silently as he worked on fixing the garden, being careful to avoid hurting the little snake that was still coiled among the ruins.

The little snake suddenly slithered forward and Harry giggled when she slithered onto his arm. '_You wanna ssstay there?_' he hissed.

'_Yesss. That way I will not be in the way,_' the snake hissed back.

'_Okay. What do I call you? I'm Harry,_' Harry hissed.

'_Sssnakesss do not bother with namesss but you may call me Sssira,_' the snake hissed back.

'_Okay, Sssira,_' Harry hissed before he went to work. (1)

**. . .**

Severus Snape was a complex man. He had been unsure of where his loyalties lied for years, until the moment of his cousin Acelina's murder. He knew that it had been Dumbledore who had murdered her and kidnapped her little baby boy, the Dark Lord's son, but he hadn't discovered that until _after_ he had gone to Dumbledore, begging him to save Lily as the Dark Lord was going after her and her family. Lily still died and it wasn't long after that that Dumbledore told him about Acelina's murder.

_"We need that child. Acelina refused to give him up but we needed him. He can, and will, be more powerful than his father and we can use him to defeat his father once and for all. Then, I will take care of him before he can grow into the next dark lord,"_ Dumbledore had told him.

Severus had been horrified to learn that Acelina had been murdered by the light and that had shifted his loyalties back in favor of the Dark.

It wasn't that much of a step. The only reason Severus had switched his loyalties to Dumbledore was because he wanted to save Lily. However, he has always been a fan of the Dark Arts and the Dark Lord did have a lot of good ideas about reshaping the Wizarding World, at least until he became insane.

Thus, when the Dark Lord returned three years after his defeat and with more sanity than he had when he had been defeated, Severus returned to him willingly and _not_ as a spy for Dumbledore. He proved this by not telling Dumbledore about the Dark Lord's return as he would have had he still been on the old coot's side.

How could he side with someone, or a side for that mattered, who murdered the cousin he saw as more of a sister, and then kidnap her baby?

The answer? He couldn't.

He still didn't even know what happened to the baby as Dumbledore still hadn't told him.

However, he still had to keep appearances up. The Dark Lord wanted him to remain as his spy on Dumbledore, which was why he was currently sitting in the headmaster's office, listening to him talk about the upcoming school year. Playing undercover as a teacher at Hogwarts was the best way he could do what his lord commanded of him.

"Severus?" Dumbledore said.

"Yes?" Severus said, pulling himself into the conversation that he had been tuning out. It was the same every year after all.

"There is something that I want you to do for me, once this meeting is over," Dumbledore said.

"Very well," Severus said calmly, keeping his face expressionless.

The meeting ended a few minutes later and the rest of the teachers left, leaving Severus alone in the office with the headmaster. Dumbledore leaned back in his seat as he studied Severus over half-moon glasses.

"Severus, I need you to go to Privet Drive," he said.

"Why?"

"I haven't received any reports from Arabella Figg and she is supposed to send me one once a month about young Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore. "But she hasn't sent one for this month."

"Perhaps she is just late," Severus said dryly. "Or she forgot."

"I sent her a reminder so she should not have forgotten. Just check in on her and on Mr. Potter while you're at it," Dumbledore said.

"Very well. I will go later today. I have to deliver some potions to St. Mungo's first though," said Severus.

"Very well. Just go before the end of the day."

Severus nodded curtly before he turned and strode out of the office, cloak billowing about his feet. He really didn't have a delivery to make to St. Mungo's, at least not one that needed to happen right way, but it gave him the perfect excuse to take his time going to Privet Drive and visit Malfoy Manor beforehand.

When he floo-traveled to Malfoy Manor, after visiting St. Mungo's and delivering the potions, Lucius met him in the living room. Lucius was a tall, aristocratic man with gray eyes and long blonde hair. He was also around the same height as Severus but had a cane in which was his wand.

"Severus," Lucius greeted him. "What brings you here?"

"I have something that I need to tell Tom," replied Severus.

"Now might not be a good time. He's not in a good mood."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Turns out your cousin's son is alive," Lucius said.

"He is?"

"Yes and Tom just found out. Needless to say, he's furious."

Severus was relieved. If Tom knew about the boy being alive from other means then that meant that the Wizard's Oath Dumbledore _forced_ Severus to take—he didn't _completely _trust Severus at the time—would be null and void. (2) "I should speak with him," he said.

"He's in the study," said Lucius.

Severus nodded and made his way upstairs to the study the Dark Lord had claimed for himself whenever he stayed at Malfoy Manor. Knocking on the door, he heard a come in and stepped into the study.

Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, was seated behind his desk, lips pressed together as he gazed at the parchments in front of him. He really didn't look much like he did when he had been defeated nine years earlier. He was in his late-twenties with short-cropped black hair and piercing crimson eyes set in a lightly tanned heart-shaped face.

Lifting his head, Tom gestured for Severus to come in. "What is it, Severus?" he said.

"Lucius just told me that you discovered that your son is alive." As usual, Severus was blunt and straight to the point. As he was, technically speaking, Tom's brother in law—the relationship was a bit more distant since he was only Acelina's cousin but since he saw Acelina as a sister, this relationship worked—he could get away with speaking this way when they were alone.

"Yes and some surprising information about him as well," Tom said. "Tell me, Severus, did you know?"

"I would have told you, my Lord, but Dumbledore forced me to swear a Wizard's Oath after he told me," said Severus.

Tom narrowed his eyes. "And did you also know that my son is also Harry Potter?" he asked.

Shock flared through Severus's body. "What?" he said dumbly, unable to comprehend the boy he swore to protect in Lily's name was his Lord's son.

"I will take your answer as a 'no'," Tom said and gestured to an armchair. "Take a seat, Severus."

Severus sat down numbly.

"As it turns out, my son was kidnapped after Acelina was murdered and given to a light family to take care of, the Potters. Last night, I was visited in my dreams by Acelina who told me about what happened and about how the Potters didn't know who the boy was when Dumbledore gave him to them. Earlier today, I also went to Gringotts to confirm it and it is true. The boy is my son."

"What will you do now?"

"I want you to visit the boy and determine what he has been told about me while Lucius will handle the legal matters to get the boy's custody transferred to me as discreetly as possible. I also want proof about my suspicions so find out how the boy is taken care of. The blood wards shouldn't affect you since you are family and you will not pose harm to the boy. And I am sure you can come up with a lie to tell Dumbledore should he be alerted to you entering the wards."

Severus nodded. "And what shall I do if he is being…mistreated?"

"This matter will need to be handled delicately, Severus. I do not doubt there are charms and such placed on or around the house to alert the old man should you try to take the boy away from the house and that would blow your cover. Just confirm my suspicions as best you can and we will go from there."

"Yes, my Lord."

Tom looked amused. "Don't call me that, Severus. We are family after all," he said.

Severus nodded. "Forgive me, I forgot," he said and stood up. "I need to go to Privet Drive anyway to run an errand for Dumbledore." He sneered out the name as though it was a curse.

"Then go," Tom said and returned his attention to the parchments on the desk while Severus left the office.

**. . .**

It wasn't that Harry didn't like Miss. Figg; he just didn't like how she acted around him, constantly asking him if he was all right and never doing anything when Harry tried to hint that he wasn't all right. She also had way too many cats.

Harry didn't mind cats, they were nice, but there was such a thing as _too_ many cats.

"So how are you, Harry?" Figg asked as she handed Harry a cup of tea.

"Fine," Harry lied. In truth, he was exhausted from trying to fix the garden—it still looked like someone had fallen in it—and his injuries from the day before still ached; thankfully, they weren't as painful as they were in the morning.

"That's good," Figg said brightly and sat down on the couch.

One of the cats jumped onto the couch and promptly plopped herself on Harry's lap. Harry looked down at the black and white kitten that was gently butting his hand as if asking him to pet her. He did, causing the cat to purr.

"She likes you," Figg said softly. "She doesn't like anyone else, now that I think about it."

"I like her too," Harry said softly.

"If you want her, you can have her."

Harry shook his head. "The Dursleys would never let me keep her," he said, scratching the kitten's ears.

"Oh, well, she can stay here and can still be yours if you want. You can name her too," Figg said with a smile.

Harry continued to gaze at the cat before smiling. "I think I'll name her Star," he said.

Figg smiled.

A knock sounded on the door.

Figg stood up before walking over to the door and opening it. "Professor Snape? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Harry craned his neck to look over the couch at the tall, intimidating figure standing on the threshold. He had pale-skin and greasy black hair with a hooked nose and eyes the color of obsidians. He was also dressed entirely in black, which caused his pale skin to stand out a bit.

"The headmaster sent me to speak to you," Snape said.

"Okay, please come in. Harry, will you stay here while we talk?" Figg asked, looking at Harry.

Harry blinked at the two of them before nodding. "Okay," he said and watched as Figg and Snape entered the kitchen.

Curiosity overcame him and he got to his feet before moving toward the door, crouching beside him as the two adults began to speak.

"I'm assuming you're here because of Harry, right?" Figg said.

"Yes. The headmaster said that you were supposed to send him a report about the condition of the brat once a month and that you haven't this month," Snape said.

"Why should I bother? He never does anything about them. Severus, there's something wrong in that household and you just saw Harry. He's ten but he doesn't look it," Figg said.

"He does look rather small for his age," Snape admitted. "What do you know about how his relatives treat him?"

"Only what I've seen. Will you tell Dumbledore since he doesn't listen to me?"

"I will."

"All right. I've seen him outside working in the garden or shoveling snow out of the driveway during the winter starting when he was three years old. He also looks so thin and, whenever he stays here, he always hints at what is happening but never outright tells me. I've tried telling Dumbledore, since he's the only one who can help but he has done nothing so far. He keeps assuring me that it isn't that bad and that Harry will be fine. I just don't believe it, especially after seeing what his cousin Dudley does to him and his aunt and uncle do nothing to stop Dudley's bullying."

Figg paused as she ran out of breath before she added quietly, "I've also caught sight of a few injuries. Harry tries to hide them but I've noticed him limping and trying to avoid using his arm. He also winces every time he stretches or gets up but he still won't tell me anything. I just want to help him," she said.

"But you cannot because of Dumbledore," Snape said.

"Yes, because of those damn wards and because Dumbledore is Harry's magical guardian," Figg said.

"I see. Perhaps I can speak to the Dursleys about this matter. Petunia and I are…old acquaintances," Snape said.

"Would you?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Severus."

Harry hurried back to the couch, making it seem as though he never left, his mind spinning from what he had just learned. This Dumbledore person knew all along of what was happening to him and did nothing? And Miss. Figg tried to help but couldn't because of Dumbledore? It was a lot to take in.

Figg walked into the living room with Snape just behind her and looked through the window. "Looks like your relatives are home, Harry," she said.

Harry sighed. "I should get back then," he said, standing up.

"I will walk him back," Snape said. "I have to speak to Petunia anyway."

Figg nodded.

"Come along, Mr. Potter," Snape said, leading the way to the door.

Harry trailed after him, wringing his hands together as he followed Snape out the door and across the street. "Mr. Snape, sir, can I ask you something?" he said.

"What is it?" Snape asked emotionlessly.

"How do you know my Aunt?" Harry asked, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal that he had been eavesdropping.

"I was a good friend of your mother Lily," Snape said uncomfortably.

"You knew her?"

"Yes."

"Did you know Acelina too?"

Snape froze on the sidewalk and, for a long moment, said nothing. "Why do you ask?" he said finally.

Harry hesitated. He shouldn't be asking questions; it was one of the Dursleys' rules but he just had to know. Maybe this wizard—he was positive Snape was a wizard, based on what he overheard—could help him find Diagon Alley. He just hoped the Dursleys never found out about this.

"I had a dream last night," he said quietly. "Acelina and Lily spoke to me and told me some things that I don't believe and I thought if you know Lily than maybe you know Acelina." He didn't know why he didn't tell Snape about the fact that Acelina said she was his real mother, probably because he didn't have proof that she was.

Snape was silent. Then: "Acelina was my cousin," he said.

"Oh." _Then maybe he can help me,_ Harry thought.

"What else did she tell you?" Snape asked, turning obsidian eyes to Harry.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, eyeing the Dursleys household but no one was coming out or saying anything so he decided to just tell the wizard. "She said that I could find proof about what she told me if I could get to Diagon Alley and Gringotts," he said softly. "And I was…well, since you know her, I was wondering…" He trailed off, looking down.

_Why in the world are you asking an adult for help? You know they can't be trusted,_ a little voice in the back of his head scolded him.

"You want me to take you to Gringotts to confirm what Acelina told you," Snape finished.

Harry said nothing.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that. However, I believe I know someone who can," Snape said and Harry looked up hopefully.

The door opened before the boy could reply and Vernon strode out. "Boy, get inside now. You've got some…who the hell are you?" he demanded, glaring at Snape.

"Severus Snape. I am here to speak to you and Petunia," Snape said coolly.

"Oh you're one of 'em freaks, I see. Fine, get inside before the neighbors see," Vernon growled before striding back into the house.

Snape and Harry followed suit.

"You!" Petunia shrieked almost as soon as Snape stepped over the threshold.

Snape gave her a cool smile. "Good to see you again too, Tuney," he sneered as Harry quietly closed the door behind them.

"What are you doing here?" Petunia demanded.

Snape strode forward. "Keeping a promise I made nine years ago. I have heard a lot of what has happened in this household and I wish to confirm it."

"Has that boy told you something? Well, he lied. He's a good for nothing worthless lying freak," Vernon spat.

"On the contrary, it wasn't he who told me anything. It was Miss. Arabella Figg." Snape pulled out a stick before pointing it at Petunia. "_Legilimens!_"

Harry just stood there, not sure what was going on as Petunia froze, her eyes glazing over before she gasped and staggered back and Snape whirled around to glare at Vernon and hissed out ,"_legilimens!_"

The same thing that happened with Petunia happened with Vernon and Snape's face was white with fury when he finally stepped away from Vernon.

"How could you?" Snape snarled, obsidian eyes glittering with barely suppressed fury.

"He's just a freak. He got what he deserved," Vernon spat.

Snape's eyes flashed. "You are lucky," he said coolly, "lucky that I cannot do anything to you. Don't think you'll get away with this though."

"Don't you dare threaten me in my own home, freak," Vernon snarled.

Snape gazed coolly at Vernon before turning to Harry and murmuring something under his breath as he waved his wand over Harry. Harry was surprised by the wave of coolness that suddenly went over him and he gazed, wide-eyed, at Snape.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"It's a spell that will prevent the Dursleys from hurting you, in case they do not take my warning seriously," Snape said. "I have someone I need to speak to so I shall be going. I will contact that friend of my mine and see if he can take you to Gringotts."

Harry looked hopeful. "Thank you, sir," he said.

Snape inclined his head, glared coolly at the Dursleys and walked out of the household.

Vernon glared at Harry. "You little brat. Get to your cupboard and no food for you tonight," he hissed.

Harry didn't need to be told twice and scurried over to his cupboard, wincing as Vernon slammed it shut before he was fully in. He heard the click as the locks were put into place and then there was the sound of thudding feet and Vernon stormed away.

Sighing, Harry rested his back against the back of the cupboard. _Magic is real,_ he thought. _And I might just have a way to see if what my adopted mother and mother said is true. Oh, I hope it is, especially if it means being able to get away from the Dursleys._

**. . .**

Tom looked up from his parchments at a knock at his door. "Come in," he called and the door opened. A furious Severus Snape strode in, nearly slamming the door behind him as he walked.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "And how was your visit with the muggles?" he asked.

Severus growled out a few curses as he sat down. "Those bloody muggles," he hissed. "How dare they do that to a child?"

"What happened, Severus?" Tom asked.

Severus closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths to calm down and then told Tom everything that he knew. By the time he was done, Tom, himself, was furious, so furious that his magic crackled around him and caused several items in the study to shatter.

"How dare they do such a thing to my son? Those filthy muggles!" he snarled. "They deserve a long and painful death for this."

Severus waited until Tom had calmed down before he said, "There's something else."

"Oh?" Tom, now calm, raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it would appear Acelina didn't just appear to you last night. She and Lily also appeared to the boy. He wouldn't tell me what they told him but he said that he needed to get to Gringotts to confirm if what they said was true. I'm guessing they told him that Acelina was his mother and you were his father," Severus said.

"Possibly."

"As it would look suspicious if I took the boy away from the blood wards, I was thinking that perhaps someone else could go," Severus said. "If he knows the truth, he will be less likely to follow Dumbledore, especially since he knows Dumbledore did nothing to help him when he needed it." Though Harry didn't know it, Severus had known that he had been eavesdropping on his conversation with Arabella; he just didn't let on that he knew.

Tom looked thoughtful. "Yes, telling him the truth would definitely widen the wedge that has already been placed between him and the old man," he said. "I am still not sure what to do though. If I claim custody of him then I will be revealing myself. Dumbledore is the only one who knows my real name though, so he will be the only one who knows I am back." (3)

He seemed to be talking to himself so Severus just remained silent.

"If you want my opinion, my…Tom, then I suggest you claim custody of the boy. Dumbledore will not be able to contest it because you are, legally, his father and have a clean record, thanks to Lucius. And he is not stupid enough to announce that you are the Dark Lord as it is unlikely anyone will believe him, especially not the purebloods."

"Indeed," Tom said thoughtfully. "Your idea has merits, Severus. I will have to think about it more. For now, tell Lucius I wish to speak to him. He will be able to easily get through the wards because he will not pose a threat to the boy and he is distantly related to the boy, mostly because of that blood adoption."

Severus nodded. "And what shall I tell Dumbledore if he does know who enters the blood wards at any given moment?" he asked.

"Make up a lie," Tom said dismissively. "Just do not let out what we are doing. If Dumbledore figures out what is happening because of you, I will be most displeased." His voice was as cold as ice and his eyes held the promise of a painful punishment should Severus fail. Just because Severus was family didn't mean Tom would be lenient when it concerned the life and safety of his son. Severus knew that.

"I will make sure he doesn't find out what is happening, Tom," he assured the Dark Lord.

"Good, now send Lucius to me."

Severus nodded, got to his feet and left the office.

Tom rubbed his temples. _Now what to do? Taking custody of the boy away from Dumbledore and the Dursleys will be easy enough, especially since I am the boy's father. However, doing so will be revealing my existence to Dumbledore. Even if Lucius is able to get the transfer in custody to go through without alerting Dumbledore, there will still be the fact that his name will be different when he goes to Hogwarts and Harry Potter will not show up. Unless, hmm. _Tom trailed off in his thoughts as a plan began to form in his mind.

_It's a long shot and it depends on whether Alex will be willing to go by the name his blood-adopted parents gave him. And there is also the fact that those damn muggles abused him to deal with,_ Tom thought.

A knock sounded on the door and Tom pulled himself from his thoughts before calling for the person to enter. Lucius walked into the office before inclining his head in greeting. "Tom," he said politely.

"Lucius. Tomorrow, there is something you need to do for me."

"What is it?"

"Go to Privet Drive tomorrow and escort my son to Gringotts so that he can see his family tree," Tom replied, writing on a parchment, rolling it and handing it to Lucius. "This will allow you act on my behalf with the goblins, specifically Silverclaw."

"Very well. If I may ask though, Tom, why me?" Lucius asked, taking the scroll.

"Because you and Severus are the only ones I trust enough to be anywhere near my son at the moment and Severus cannot go for obvious reasons," replied Tom.

Lucius nodded. "Very well," he said before he left the office upon being dismissed by the Dark Lord.

Tom returned his attention to his desk as his mind went back to his plan and he began working out how, exactly, to do it without repercussion that could set back his plans for the Wizarding World as a whole.

**. . .**

True to Snape's words, whenever Vernon tried to hit Harry, it would be deflected. It got to the point that Vernon just stopped and sent Harry to his cupboard without food, as was what happened all throughout the next day. Harry had just cooked breakfast and lunch for Vernon, Petunia and Dudley, did some chores around the house and was then sent back to his cupboard.

After dinner that day, Vernon turned to Harry. "You are to go straight to your cupboard after you're done with the dishes," he said firmly.

"Yes sir," Harry said softly, not taking his eyes off the dishes he was washing.

There was a knock on the door.

"Boy, get the door," Vernon growled and Harry, drying his hands, moved over to the door before opening it.

Standing on the doorstep was a man with blonde hair and gray eyes dressed casually in black with a cane topped with a skull. "Hello, you must be Mr. Potter," the man said in a smooth voice.

"Uh, yeah," Harry said uncertainly.

"Who's at the door, boy?" Vernon demanded, lumbering over to Harry.

"Hello, I am Lucius Malfoy. I'm here to escort Mr. Potter to Gringotts," the blonde man said calmly, coolly.

"Another freak? Get out of my house," Vernon snarled.

Malfoy raised an elegant eyebrow. "Charmed to meet you as well, Mr. Dursley," he said dryly. "Come, Mr. Potter, we shall leave now as I believe I have overstayed my welcome."

Harry hesitated. "Are you Mr. Snape's friend?" he asked.

"I am."

Harry was still hesitant but he nodded. He wanted to confirm if what his mother and adopted mother said was true and this was his best chance at doing so. "Okay," he said softly and followed Malfoy out of the house.

Vernon glared at them and slammed the door shut behind them.

"They certainly are delightful people," Malfoy said sarcastically as he studied Harry. "Hmm, you have your mother's eyes."

"I do?"

Malfoy nodded. "We're going to sidelong apparate. Grab hold of my arm and don't let go," he said and Harry did as he was told before they were gone from Privet Drive.

It felt as though Harry was being sucked through a tube and, by the time it was done, Harry felt about ready to collapse.

Malfoy didn't look the least bit winded; not even a hair was out of place. He waved his wand and his clothes were replaced with black robes before looking at Harry, wrinkling his nose. "We will need to do something about that…clothing of yours," he said with a sneer.

"I don't have anything else, sir, or any money," Harry said timidly.

Malfoy scoffed. "Your father will ensure that you get proper clothing that is better than those muggle rags. Until then…" He pulled his wand from his cane and waved it and Harry's eyes widened as his clothing shrank to fit him. Malfoy then pointed his wand at Harry's forehead before murmuring something else.

"There, now no one will know who you are," Malfoy murmured.

"Who I am? What do you mean?"

Malfoy looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Harry looked down.

"Sorry, sir, I know I'm not supposed to ask questions," he said quietly.

"Bloody muggles," Malfoy muttered. "Come, we don't have much time. Let's go."

He led the way out of the darkened area they had arrived in and toward a snow-white building that rose up at the other end of the alley. Harry was staring, wide-eyed, at everything that lay around him; men and women in robes and pointed hats, toads and other animals in the windows and various other things. It was amazing.

When they reached the snow-white building, Harry stared at the short, peach-skinned creatures that guarded it. "What are they, sir?" he asked, unable to stop himself and he looked down, hoping the man wouldn't get mad.

"They are goblins," Malfoy said calmly as he led the way into the bank and toward one of the tellers with Harry trailing after him.

"Yes, what do you need?" one of the goblin's said.

Harry gulped as he looked at the goblins. "Umm," he began, swallowing.

"He'd like to see his family tree," Malfoy said impatiently, though Harry didn't know if it was because of him or not.

"I see, Mr. Malfoy. Are you his guardian?"

"I am acting on behalf of his father," Malfoy said, pulling out a scroll from his robes and handing it over.

_He knows my father?_ Harry thought.

The goblin looked at it before nodding. "Very good, sir. Silverclaw!"

Another goblin came around before taking the scroll the first goblin handed him. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy, follow me," the goblin said, rolling up the scroll.

"Come along," Malfoy said without looking at Harry who quickly scurried after him as he strode after the goblin.

When they entered another room, Silverclaw sat down behind a table and Malfoy gestured toward one of the chairs in front of the desk. Swallowing, Harry moved to it uncertainly.

"Now then, I will need a few drops of your blood in order to know for sure who you are," Silverclaw said.

Harry gulped, eyes wide. "J…Just a few drops, r…right?" he stammered out.

"Yes," Silverclaw said.

"Uhh, okay, but how do I do that?"

Silverclaw held out a dagger. "Just prick your thumb with this," he said.

Harry took the dagger and did as he was told, letting a few drops fall onto the parchment that Silverclaw held out before handing the dagger back. Malfoy pointed his wand at the small wound before murmuring under his breath and the wound closed.

On the parchment, a family tree began to sketch itself on the parchment. Silverclaw rolled it up until it came to Harry's name. Harry stared wide-eyed at the parchment before looking at the goblin and then at Malfoy and then back at the goblin.

"So, my real name's Alexander?" he asked.

"Yes," Silverclaw said.

Harry looked at Malfoy. "My father's really alive?" he whispered.

"Yes," Malfoy said calmly.

Harry looked hopeful. "Does he know? Will he come and get me?" he asked.

"We are working on that at the moment. It will take some time to get everything settled but I have no doubt your father will do everything in his power to get you back," Malfoy said. "Now, come, we should get you back to your _relatives."_ He sneered out the last word derisively.

Harry nodded slowly and followed Malfoy and the goblin who led the way out of the room.

**. . .**

1: Though she isn't seen for the rest of the chapter, remember Sira. She will come back.

2: Well, this is my own theory since I have no idea what would happen if information that one is bound by a Wizard's Oath to not say to a specific person is then found out by said person through other means. If this isn't true then oh well. It just means that I'm twisting canon a little to make it work.

3: I have no idea if this is true or not but it is for my story 'cause it works with the plot I'm working out.

**. . .**

**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: well, that was chapter 2. Man, it took me a lot longer to finish this chapter than I thought it would. And I had to rewrite it because I didn't like how the first draft was coming along**

**Darth: I didn't mind it, though Malfoy seems out of character**

**Blaze: oh believe me, I know. I just figured that Malfoy was staying on Harry/Alex's good side 'cause he's the Dark Lord's son and all that and I think I made him a bit OOC as a result. Ah well. I did warn everyone that there would be OOCness**

**Darth: I liked it though**

**Blaze: you already said that**

**Harry: so what's going to happen next?**

**Blaze: uhhhhhh, I honestly don't know (looks through notes) wait, I don't have notes for this story (thinks real hard) probably Harry and his real father meeting and then going about what Tom decides to do and all that**

**Harry: what's gonna happen to the Dursleys?**

**Blaze: that won't come until after everything is finalized with the custody transfer and all that**

**Harry: cool**

**Blaze: next chapter is likely to be from Tom's, Harry's, Severus's and the idiot's (I mean Dumbles's) POV**

**Harry: cool, when's the next chapter coming out?**

**Blaze: considering how long it took me to type this chapter. I'm saying the first or second week of January**

**Harry: wow**

**Blaze: tell me about it. Huh, I just realized something**

**Harry: what?**

**Blaze: this month is my seventh anniversary on Fanfiction and I didn't even realize it! I did update two stories on my anniversary though (**_**Shadow Rise **_**and**_** Battle Born**_**). Huh. Can't believe I forgot my own anniversary on Fanfiction (pouts)**

**Harry: (hands Blaze chocolate cream pie with **_**Happy Seventh Anniversary on Fanfiction **_**written on it in vanilla icing) from all of the fandoms you have written in since you started writing on Fanfiction**

**Blaze: (perks up) yay! Thanks! (Takes chocolate cream pie and starts eating it) Please review as they are much appreciated**


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